Friday, March 09, 2007

Wide Releases300. I'm sure this has a very high awareness rating due to relentless advertisements and its apparitional sequelity ....it's like Sin City 2 ! At least in a Frank Miller inky silhouette way. I'm appropriately excited to see it and I'm thinking IMAX for this one. Though I should probably get this off my chest now: Hearing phrases like "if you enjoyed Braveheart and Gladiator, you'll love..." give me pause. Still, it has to be better than Ghost Rider and Wild Hogs which are America's current favorites [choke] to throw money at. Oh public! You never learn. You realize that means we get more movies like those, don't you?

Limited ReleasesBeyond the Gates brings Hugh Dancy to Hotel Rwanda territory as a young teacher overwhelmed by the murder and chaos. In place of a hotel we're in a school run by John Hurt which becomes a makeshift refugee camp.The Namesake it's a new Mira Nair film so snap to attention. She's got an uneven filmography but when she's on (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay) her movies are unmissable.Believe In Me this is a basketball drama from IFC. I don't mean to sound dense or insensitive to the people involved but I'm wondering why indie film bother with the inspirational sports genre. Isn't this one of the rare niches that mainstream moviemaking sufficiently covers and does pretty right by?The Host this Korean monster movie has won rave reviews from many quarters. TFE's favorite horror aficionado MNPP wasn't quite as thrilled but it's definitely a hot topic in cinephile circles.Maxed Out is a documentary on America's overwhelming debt. Am I in this?

"The Namesake" is wonderful. I'd advise everyone to go see it (and I can't wait to see it again myself at the end of the month). "Beyond the Gates" is okay- other people got much more out of it than me (and then called me heartless.) But my god does it push religion in your face. And "The Host" is just fun.

I find it strange that I've already seen three films that are only now being released in the US. But I also kinda like it.

I am dying to see Starter for 10, which, though ordinarily I wouldn't see, stars the lovely James McAvoy in a British college flick and as a soon-to-be college kid, I feel like I should sort of know what i'm getting into...It got pretty good reviews though.

300: So it's whole lot of posing and shouting and bloodshed and on that simple (some might say vapid) level, it's fun and hot. The battle scenes are well done and although I've heard some people complain about the slow-mo, it's used well and really brings out some of the slick choreography that would otherwise be lost in the fray. Gerard Butler is solid in the lead, very commanding, in fact all the 300 soldiers take what they're given and run with it. However, the two to watch are Lena Headey as the queen and Vincent Regan as the captain. They each own two of the best scenes in the film. The real star, of course, are the visuals which are relentlessly stunning, down to every detail. That in itself makes 300 a beautiful, gritty work of art.

One thing : had I not looked at the cast list, I would have never realized that Xerxes (bald dude with all the face bling) was being played by Rodrigo Santoro. However, going into the film with this knowledge, when he first spoke, it took all I had not to burst out in laughter. If you're familiar with Rodrigo, you know that he kind of sounds like a wuss. Here, they ran his voice through the Mercedes McCambridge machine resulting in an effect that will at the very least make you wince.

I so can't wait for The Namesake to reach Houston. (Why it didn't open immediately considering the large Indian American population here is beyond me.) The novel is amazing and is quite an entertaining read, despite its status as Literature with a capital L.